YOUTHFUL DRIVERS

As a parent, you probably have some jitters about your teen driver. And that’s completely understandable considering the fact that teens are statistically more likely to be involved in a crash than the general population.

Auto accidents are the number one cause of deaths for teenage drivers, affecting more than alcohol, drugs and suicide combined. Teens are at risk because they are inexperienced and teenage drivers are more likely to:

Teenage drivers also have the highest percentage of crashes involving speeding, single-vehicle crashes, crashes with driver error and the highest vehicle occupancy or number of passengers in the vehicle.

The good news is there’s plenty you can do to keep newly minted drivers safe behind the wheel. It all starts with information — and the following sites, all created by trusted federal and national organizations, can help. (Added bonus: Many of them also include fun features like podcasts and downloadable videos.) So click over any (or all) of them to learn how to have an important — and possibly life-saving — conversation with your teen driver.

Links of Interest:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Teen Driver Safety
Tucked within this catch-all site for all things safety is a special section on teen driving. It’s full of hard research and stats as well as creative materials — among them, audio and video clips, toolkits and posters — you can use to raise awareness in your home and in your wider community.

Distraction.gov – Teens
Just a few of the features on this well-designed site include a clickable map detailing each state’s distracted driving laws, fast facts about the issue and a pledge form for anyone ready to commit to phone-free driving. Also, make sure to check out the Faces section — it’s full of high-impact stories and videos of people who lost their lives as a result of their own or others’ distracted driving.

National Safety Council – Teen Driver Safety
This site’s strongest selling point is its information on Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) — a novice driver licensing system that can reduce teen drivers’ high crash risk by 20 to 40 percent. Even if your state doesn’t have a GDL initiative in place, you can jump start your own program by following the step-by-step guide outlined by the experts at the NSC.

Notice of licensure-
Wilson Insurance Management and Sites Insurance Agency is licensed to conduct business in Indiana. The information on this site is a solicitation to conduct business only in the aforementioned state(s) of authority.